To Make you Better
by Vixin2
Summary: Erika is struck down with flu, and BEN decides to help her out... Whether she likes it or not A bit of Erika/BEN DROWNED fluff. Set before Erika's twentieth birthday in my creepypasta story 'Challenged Chronicles'. I own nothing but Erika. Is not necessarily canon in my story, but you can imagine it to be if you want. Rated T just in case.


Ever since these creepypastas came into Erika's life, the raven haired girl doubted she had any luck at all. If there was any luck, it was the bad kind. True she had survived encounters where a majority of people would have likely died, but that would always leave the fear of 'what if' for the next time. She never felt truly safe outdoors, and even when inside her home she would take ages for her to relax and she would feel as if security was lacking no matter what. But she never felt a hundred percent vulnerable.

Until she became sick with the flu that is. It had started on Monday if Erika remembered correctly. She had a bit of a headache and her throat felt dry, making her occasionally cough. While she did feel warm, Erika brushed it off to the Slenderman being near and just went straight to her college for her classes that day. While not being inside her house took away what little feeling of safety she had, being in her classes, studying and taking notes surrounded by others just as focused as herself (or not for one or two people) made her feel a bit better. She wanted to believe that they wouldn't dare attack her with other people around. They hadn't before so why now?

However her professor had noticed her coming into class and insisted on her being taking to a doctor. Said doctor diagnosed her with the flu and said that she would have to stay in bed for a few days.

So here was Erika now, two days after that visit. Lying in bed, and only being able to force herself to leave her bed except for the bathroom or to get something light to eat when she felt some sort of appetite. Erika kept the small bin in her room by her bed in case she had to vomit and thankfully she had only had to use it once so far. She also kept a bowel of water with a rag in it so she could dab it on her forehead occasionally when it became too warm.

"God, this sucks", Erika muttered to herself. It was pointless to complain about being sick considering what she's been through already, but it's something that you can't just not do.

Still, Erika had to look on the tiny sliver of the bright side. This gave her an excuse to rest from all work entirely, even if she did feel like shit. Erika closed her eyes as she made another attempt to go to sleep. Maybe the more times she slept, the faster she would get better and be over this sickness? Yes, sleep should help.

"Only you can make looking like crap look good".

Erika's eyes opened and she bit her tongue to suppress a cry of panic as she saw who stood at the foot of her bed. A smug smirk on his face with folded arms across his chest, and his blonde hair nearly covering blue eyes.

"What do you want?", Erika demanded trying to keep a sound of authority in her voice, not wanting to show how weak her illness had actually made her. She even managed to fight back a cough.

"Oh, not much really", Ben answered in a casual manner before he began to slowly walk around Erika's bed to her side, not taking his eyes away from Erika's. "But not many of them have much to do with me being here".

"If you're going to tease me, just get the hell out".

"But", Ben continued, as if Erika never spoke. "When I saw you were so sick, my heart decided to come here, just for you".

"What heart", Erika countered. "You're technically a ghost so you shouldn't even have organs".

"And yet, here I stand solid with flesh and bone", Ben said as he opened his arms out. Erika stifled a snort.

"Yeah, great. Now go away", Erika groaned. Her forehead was heating up again and she used the little strength in her arm and hand to reach for the damp cloth in the water bowel. However, Ben snatched it away and held it up as he smirked at Erika. "Give that back you bastard!"

"Why? I said I came here just for you. I.e, take care of you, you poor, sick little puppy".

Erika almost thought something had gone wrong with her hearing when Ben said that. Him? Take care of her? Either the flu was starting to make her hallucinate or there might actually be something to those fanfics online that portrayed Ben as a drug user.

"What? Don't you believe me, sweetie?" Ben gave a mocking pout as he swung the rags lightly, out of Erika's reach.

"It's you. There's nothing to believe", Erika scowled. "Now get the hell out of my house or-"

"Or what?", Ben interrupted. "You're hardly in any condition to take care of yourself. It's pretty obvious by looking at you. You're alone. Vulnerable". That last word and the way Ben said it grabbed Erika's attention, and a twisted feeling came to her gut. Erika tried to keep her face emotionless though, as she did not want to show her actual emotions there and then. She did fear something like her being sick happening, as it would force her to be more vulnerable then usual. She had called Liu to see if he could come over to keep her company two days ago, but he wouldn't be able to come until Friday because of his schedule.

"What is that suppose to mean?", Erika asked in a low tone.

"Exactly what it means", Ben replied. "Any moment, any moment right now, any of them could just burst in here and you would not be able to fight back. You would not even be able to find a way a way to think your way out of a situation like this".

"So that's why your here? To kill me?", Erika questioned. Her heart was starting to race, and her forehead was getting warmer and desperately needed the cloth Ben was holding. Ben gave a low chuckle, sounding completely amused.

"Kill you? Now, now. That isn't how your script ends".

"Then how does it end?" Ben grinned, showing off perfectly white teeth. Erika briefly wondered if Ben took really good care of his teeth, or if being dead kept your teeth from rotting?

"Why would I tell you that? It would ruin the surprise! No, I'm here to take care of you", Ben cooed as he grabbed Erika's left hand. It felt cool which gave some relief to that hand but Erika just glared and snatched her hand away.

"I don't need your-"

"I don't think I've made myself clear", Ben said, a bit of force in his voice as he now grabbed her wrist tightly. "Like I said, your vulnerable. I've decided to take time from my dead-life to see you, and said that I was going to be making you miserable while you were sick to the others. If I wasn't here, anyone would come here. Anyone". Erika was beginning to have an idea where this was going before Ben continued. "I however, will take care of you and see that you are... 'well taken care of'".

"This is blackmail!" Erika couldn't honestly believe what she was hearing. Ben was actually blackmailing her to take care of her?! What the hell sort of twisted logic is that?!

"I prefer the word extortion", Ben replied bluntly. "It sounds better. But still, I suppose I still have to hear what your answer is. So what will it be?"

Erika's mouth nearly dropped while Ben looked triumphant. This was a no win situation. If she said no, Ben would go but there was always a chance one of the other creepypastas may come. She had definitely made enemies out of Jeff and Tails Doll, so why would they not use this opportunity for revenge? Or what if Eyeless Jack decided he wanted to know what her organs tasted like? But if she said yes, she would have to deal with Ben and that was just as terrifying. She was physically weaker then normal, and realistically speaking boys did tend to be stronger then girls. What if Ben was a pervert like in the fanfictions? What if he tried to force himself on her? Already Erika felt like being sick again.

"I'm waiting". Erika swallowed nervously as she made her decision. She didn't want to but considering the possibilities of either answer, she was going to have to give her answer.

"Fine. You can take care of me", Erika muttered bitterly. Considering how Ben never seemed to make death threats against her, and how anyone of his 'friends' could come, she figured she chose the lesser of two evils.

"Good girl". Erika soon felt the cloth dampening her forehead and shut her eyes, trying to pretend it wasn't Ben doing this. It made it more bearable to having admit this defeat. Whatever Ben had in mind to, 'take care of her', Erika could only pray to whoever the hell was up there that she would not be scarred physically or mentally afterwords. Erika flinched when she felt one of his hands touch her cheek and she reluctantly opened her eyes only to narrow them towards the blonde.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"You're so warm", Ben mumbled, but more towards himself. Erika mentally cringed at that though. Ben had made comments on her being warm before, and it disturbed her a tad inside. But she couldn't show that discomfort. It didn't matter how she felt now, she refused to show it in front of the very beings who were causing it. No doubt she was truly as stubborn as they come. Perhaps more so.

Erika had been thinking so hard that she nearly didn't notice Ben standing up and leaving the room. Perhaps he had gotten bored already and decided to leave? No, that wasn't likely it. The thought of forcing herself to get out of bed to lock her door did come to Erika, but she scolded herself for thinking that would stop a poltergeist like Ben. No. She was definitely going to have to put up with Ben, no matter what.

"Here you go". Erika had only shut her eyes briefly when Ben's voice was suddenly heard and she opened them to see Ben holding a bowel with light steam rising from it. More then likely some sort of soup.

_Sniff, sniff._

Chicken soup by the scent of it, and Erika's stomach, nose and tongue were already feeling tempted but she clenched her jaw briefly before looking Ben in the eye.

"What's in it?"

"Some vegetables, some chicken", Ben answered casually. "Some aphrodisiacs".

"What?!" Erika's throat hurt a little as she raised her voice, but she couldn't help it. Ben however just laughed.

"Can't believe you actually fell for that! Your brain must get dumber when your sick".

"If I'm so dumb, why am I still alive?"

"Because it's not time for your second birthday", Ben said simply before sitting down on the side of Erika's bed before taking the spoon he brought with him and scooped some of the soup into it before holding it towards Erika's mouth.

"I can feed myself you-" The spoon was shoved right into Erika's mouth before she could finish and Erika's body instinctively swallowed the food, fearing it would choke. "Wh-what the heck was that for?!"

"Your sick and your being fed like this, whether you like it or not". Ben's arrogant look made it clear that Erika's anger was amusing to him so Erika tried to calm down. She was determined now not to give into his little mind game. It was clear the Ben knew how much Erika hated all of this since it was coming from him, so it he was likely to savour every moment possible. With another spoon held towards her lips, Erika reluctantly accepted the lunch.

And inwardly admitted it was good.

Erika was surprised with herself that she was able to survive the rest of the day in all honesty. There were small battles of wits, which to Erika's annoyance were mostly won by Ben, though she was able to make a snide remark or two but Ben would just ignore it. Some could argue that Erika shouldn't be rude to someone who wanted to look after her while she was sick. But why should Erika be polite to someone who was amongst beings who were planning on making her one of them against her will? The same ones who made the last year a complete misery? The same ones who murdered her friend Daniel?

It was half nine when Erika felt she was going to fall asleep again, this time for the rest of the night. She saw this as a sort of escape from Ben and was happy to try and fall asleep.

Then she felt a brief cold and felt someone else get into her bed.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?!" Erika managed to shriek her words when she saw a smirking Ben in her bed next to her.

"Well, your pretty much gonna be our for the rest of the night, so why not sleep here?"

"There are two spare bedrooms you idiot!"

"But what if your need anything?", Ben asked as he put on a fake look of hurt.

"If I really do need anything I'll get it myself", Erika snapped. "Now get the hell out of my-"

The sudden grab on her shoulders and being pulled in towards Ben's chest made her body freeze in panic. What was going on? What was Ben thinking of? H- he wasn't actually going to...

_Smooch_

Erika felt her arms and legs go rigid when she felt Ben kiss her forehead. Had she looked up at Ben she would have seen him with a smug look. Proud that he made Erika shut the hell up. Instead she looked straight across, not noticing she was facing Ben's shirt covered chest.

"You're blushing", Ben sniggered, and Erika scowled but refused to look up.

"I'm not blushing! I'm pissed off. Why don't you find someone else to annoy other then me?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Ben had leaned his lips to her closest ear and Erika froze. "I simply love your reactions to everything that's happened to you. Fear. Sorrow. Wrath. Depression..." Erika flinched when she felt a sharp nip on the shell of her ear but the little strength she had would not have been enough to fight him off. Instead, her heart just beated at a faster pace in fear. "Embarrassment suits you when it's like this. Trying to act like you aren't but when you go all red... It's incredibly appealing. But your warmth..." Ben trailed off, giving a low sigh as he grabbed one of Erika's wrist and began rubbing the top of it with his thumb. "It almost reminds me what being alive is like. What being human is like..."

Ben trailed off again and Erika was unsure what to do. She was in no state to fight and run and Ben...

Actually, Erika couldn't help but feel some sympathy for Ben. He was only likely a child when he drowned. No one deserved such a death, let alone a child. But did he truly deserve sympathy? He seemed to have enough sanity to be aware of his actions and the consequences of said actions, but yet he had harmed people. It was a difficult question to answer really, and one that would likely have debates on the matter. Had Erika left her camera on instead of leaving it in her study... No, Erika wouldn't have recorded this. Some things were best kept private.

Like the matter of her ex-step-father.

"Soft too...", Ben murmured. It was silent for a moment before he gave a low, dark chuckle. It almost seemed like a calmer version of Jeff's laughter. "We'll be so happy once you finally succumb and join us. We'll be together, forever and ever. Even with your burns".

"Bu-burns? What burns?", Erika managed to ask, forcing herself to look up. Ben looked back down. He had a blank face on at first, a sneer was on his face briefly before twisting into a dark smirk.

"Don't worry about that at all sweetie. Nothing for you to be worried about", he cooed, digging his nails into Erika's wrist painfully. "Now, shut your eyes, and go to sleep. You want to get better, yes? To continue your pointless quest to survive?"

Erika didn't respond back, instead opting to lower her head and think to herself about what Ben said. It worried her, but the tiredness Erika had been experiencing was truly getting to her as her eyelids began to close. She was scared, but if Erika were to die now and go to be with her deceased parents once more (assuming there is an afterlife), she doubted she would complain that much.

As she fell asleep though, Erika could have sworn she heard Ben humming a tune. It sounded familiar, like from a video game.

Would it be cliché to assume it was a Legend of Zelda game?


End file.
